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A MDO TIBETAN NAMING PRACTICES AND NAME POPULARITY Duojiezhaxi (Dorje Tashi, Rdo rje bkra shis; University of Colorado) and CK Stuart (Shaanxi Normal University) (cid:1) ABSTRACT Names, name frequency, and naming practices in Brag dmar nang (Zhemeang) Village, Dkar brjid (Garang) Township, Khri ka (Guide) County, Mtsho lho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China and Mtsho lho Number Two Nationalities Senior Middle School, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Khri ka County are presented and discussed. The literature on Tibetan naming practices in English, Chinese, and Tibetan is also reviewed. KEYWORDS A mdo, Mtsho lho (Hainan), Mtsho sngon (Qinghai), Tibetan naming practices Duojiezhaxi and CK Stuart. 2016. A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices and Name Popularity. Asian Highlands Perspectives 40:177-231. A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices INTRODUCTION1 When Mother (Shag rdo skyid b. 1964) was in her fifth month of pregnancy with me,2 my paternal grandmother, Chos skyong mtsho (b. 1936), suggested that she visit Bya khyung Monastery3 to worship and to obtain a name for me. Mother then walked with her aunt (Tshe ring skyid, b. 1930) and her sister (Rdo rje sgrol ma, b. 1954) to the monastery. They set off at about five a.m. from Brag dmar nang Village and, at about six in the evening, they reached the monastery where they stayed at a monk's quarters. The monk is a family friend and his living quarters are located about one kilometer south of the monastery's main temples and chanting hall. During their three day stay at the monastery, Mother circumambulated the entire monastery once in the company of her aunt and sister, and then visited Phag mo Temple, a small temple located about 200 meters southeast of the monastery's main hall.4 Mother made an offering of some butter lamps before Buddhist images there and gave a loaf of homemade bread and ten RMB to the lkog gnyer5 as gifts. When she asked for a name for me, the lkog gnyer gave her a white piece of paper with two 1 We thank Hu Fengzhong, Klu mo thar, and Rdo rje bkra shis for their help with data collection; Suo nanji and Bsod nams rin chen rgyal for data processing; and two anonymous reviewers, AHP editors, Gabriela Samcewicz, and Gaye Sargent for their very helpful comments. 2 All first person references designate the first author unless otherwise indicated. 3 Bya khyung Monastery, founded in 1349 by Chos rje don grub rin chen (Shel 'byung 'khon thar tshe ring 2005), is located in the west of Tsha phug Township, Dpa' lung County. 4 Chos skyong mtsho (b. 1938, female) and Tshe ring skyid (b. 1930), both of Brag dmar nang Village, describe Phag mo Temple in Bya khung Monastery: Phag mo Temple is a small temple in Bya khung Monastery. Pregnant women often circumambulate and prostrate in front of this temple. Women who have difficulty becoming pregnant also visit Phag mo Temple with homemade bread and a small amount of cash, and beseech the deities for children. Also, if a woman really wants to have a son, she goes there to ask for a son. This really works sometimes. 5 A monk who assists pilgrims as part of his monastery duties. Monks assume the role of lkog gnyer in turn. 178 Asian Highlands Perspectives names and a loaf of bread, and said, "Please call the child Rdo rje bkra shis if it is a boy, and Phag mo sgrol ma if it is a girl. Please place this bread in your family shrine until you give birth." Before visiting Bya khyung Monastery, Shag rdo skyid also visited Uncle Dge 'dun and asked him what rituals should be done to ensure a successful birth. Uncle Dge 'dun told her that if she chanted Sgra dbyangs6 she would give birth to a boy. Mother did this. This is how I got my name. What are prevalent A mdo Tibetan names? How are names obtained? How, when, and why are names changed? What are the characteristics of male and female names in A mdo? This paper attempts to answer these questions. I chose two locations for name collection. One was my natal village - Brag dmar nang - located in Dkar brjid (Garang) Township, Khri ka County, Mtsho lho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,7 Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China. This village was chosen because I know the names of all the 233 villagers (110 male; 123 female).8 This also allowed for a focused examination of one particular community. The economics of the village are complex, with ongoing agriculture, animal husbandry, and outside employment, in addition to state-sponsored modern education. In 2014, the village was home to about fifty-one households whose members were all classified as Tibetan. Brag dmar nang was an agro-pastoral village, with every household owning sheep, goats, mules, donkeys, and cows. However, with the availability of paid employment outside the village, only five village families kept livestock in 2014. Wheat, rape (canola), potatoes, a small amount of 6 Sgra dbyangs refers to Sgra dbyangs rgyal po'i mtshan, a Buddhist scripture. 'Phrin las, a monk at Seng khri Monastery, 'Ba' County, Mtsho lho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon Province advised chanting this scripture helped women avoid miscarriage and give birth successfully. 7 The counties in Mtsho lho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture are Gser chen (Gonghe), 'Ba' (Tongde), Brag dkar (Xinghai), Mang ra (Guinan), and Khri ka. 8 At the time of this survey (2012), the youngest male villager was born in 2012 and the oldest was born in 1930. 179 A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices barley, and some vegetables are cultivated on approximately thirty- three hectares of irrigated land.9 This community has also been described in Rdo rje bkra shis et al. (2012) and Tshe dpal rdo rje et al. (2009). The second site for name collection was Mtsho lho (Hainan) Number Two Nationalities Senior Middle School, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Khri ka County. For all students at the school, I collected names (in Chinese, according to the official school list), sex, birthdates, and ethnicity (all were Tibetan). Students were then asked to write their names and home areas in Tibetan. Altogether 1,468 students (673 female; 795 male) were surveyed.10 About eighty percent of the surveyed students were from Khri ka County. The other twenty percent were from other counties in Mtsho lho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. I collected data for this paper from both the school and the village. In addition, I interviewed thirty-three students at the school in the teachers' office asking each, "How did you get your name?" and "Do you have any stories to explain your name?"11 Furthermore, I chatted with thirteen Brag dmar nang villagers, most of whom visited my home for reasons unrelated to this paper, and informally asked them the two questions just mentioned. The research was completed in late 2013. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature on Tibetan naming practices and name popularity is scant, especially in English. For this reason, we offer summaries of the literature we found, particularly for the Chinese and Tibetan language 9 Non-irrigated land is not cultivated. 10 The youngest male student was born in 1998 and the oldest in 1988. The youngest female student was born in 1999 and the oldest in 1990. 11 When I was collecting the names from Mtsho lho Number Two Nationalities Senior Middle School, some syllables of the names collected were spelled differently, e.g., grub/ 'grub, skal bzang/ bskal bzang, 'phags/ phag, 'tsho/ mtsho, and so on. I standardized spellings and used them to analyze the data. For instance, I used grub for all 'grub, and mtsho for all 'tsho. 180 Asian Highlands Perspectives materials. With the exception of Basang (2010) and Childs (2003), none of the authors we review explain how they collected the data and sources of their data. I begin with Childs (2003), who discusses naming practices and name popularity in sKyid grong by focusing on a list dating to 1958 of 2,844 government taxpayers in sKyid grong, "a district-level administrative unit (rdzong [county]) in Tibet" (17). Though descriptive of a community in western Tibet, Childs' data is useful as a reference point for A mdo studies. How children and people in general in sKyid grong composed their names including nicknames is discussed with illustrative examples. Childs notes that (19): ...Tshe ring was by far the most common name in sKyid grong with 299 individuals - more than 10 percent of the entire population - having this as either their first or second name. Nyi ma and Zla ba had the distinction of being the most popular first names. bsTan 'dzin was not a very frequent name in sKyid grong during the early part of the 20th century, in contrast to the current situation among the exile population. In terms of frequency of name prefix and suffix by gender, Childs writes (20): ...some names (Nor bu, Tshe dbang, and rDo rje) could be given to females, but were usually reserved for males. Also, some names are gender neutral when used as first names yet more gender specific when given as second names. Tshe ring, bSod nams, bKra shis, Tshe brtan, and bsTan 'dzin are gender neutral as first names but are used almost exclusively for males as second names, whereas Phur bu is used as a second name only for females. ...some names are used frequently as first names but rarely occur as second names (bSod nams, Blo bzang, bsTan 'dzin, bKra shis, and all the day-names except for Phur bu), while others are almost always used as second names (Don grub for males, sGrol ma and Bu khrid for females being the most striking examples). 181 A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices Childs suggests that unusual entries in the name list are possibly nicknames, noting that nicknames are common and based on physical attributes, intellectual aptitude, and mental abilities, e.g., nag mdog 'black colored', mgo ril 'round head', blun po 'fool', tha shal 'bad' 'inferior', and lkugs pa 'mute' 'deaf'. Childs notes that nicknames might not state a negative attribute, but be applied in jest. Childs does not provide accounts of naming practices of monks and nuns, nor does he discuss Tibetan surnames. Based on my information, nicknames in Brag dmar nang Village are used in two contexts. Gces ming is a name frequently used for children and friends to express kindness and affection. In contrast, a mtshang ming name is used to mock friends and others by basing it on their physical attributes and personality. Mtshang ming are more frequently used among children than adults and are particularly common among peers. Kho and phrug are common second syllables used in gces ming, regardless of name length. For example, Rdo rje mtsho, is a female name, and a common gces ming for this name is Rdo phrug. Similarly, Rdo kho is the gces ming of the male name, Rdo rje bkra shis. Tshe kho is the gces ming of the female name, Tshe ring mtsho. In this case, kho and phrug, do not signify gender differences as they apply to both male and female gces ming. The first two syllables of a name (regardless of name length) represent gces ming in Brag dmar nang Village, e.g., 'Brug rgyal is gces ming for 'Brug rgyal tshe ring, Tshe gzungs, is gces ming for Tshe gzungs skyid, and so on. Other diminutives include using the first and third syllable of a name (regardless of name length), e.g., Rdo bkra for Rdo rje bkra shis, and Phag skyid for Phag mo skyid. Different categories were identified by the author in the course of field research in A mdo. Almost every Brag dmar nang villager has a mtshang ming. For example, Rna rko 'flat nose', Kha stug 'thick mouth', Dmar rdo 'red cheeks', and so on. Examples of mtshang ming signifying personality include a villager called Feiji (Chinese for 'airplane') because he constantly fidgeted when he was a youth. Another villager is called Spyang ki 'wolf' as the result of his persistent tendency to obtain the most benefit from whatever activity 182 Asian Highlands Perspectives he was engaged in. A mtshang ming is sometimes used regardless of physical characteristics and personality. For example, as described above, a female villager called Rna rko (mtshang ming) has the formal name 'Phag mo mtsho'. If another female child were born in the village and was named Phag mo mtsho, that child would then be called Rna rko (her mtshang ming). Chinese Language Literature Comments on Tibetan naming practices in Chinese language literature include Qu (1982), Daola (1984), Li (1987), Danzhengjia (1994), Jia (1994), Ga Dawacairang (1996), Gama Jiangcun (1998), Basang (2010), Gazangzhuoma (2008), He (2009), and Nong (2013). These are brief papers ranging from two to six pages in length. Danzhengjia (1994), Jia (1994), Ga Dawacairang (1996), Gazangzhuoma (2008), He (2009), and Nong (2013) give a few references - the others do not. Li (1987), Danzhengjia (1994), Jia (1994), Ga Dawacairang (1996), Gama Jiangcun (1998), Basang (2010), Gazangzhuoma (2008), He (2009), and Nong (2013) mention naming practices based on religious terms, birthdates, natural objects, hopes for the child's future life, and the hope that the mother would have no more children. Gazangzhuoma (2008), for example, writes that Meiduo (Me tog) 'flower', and Dahai ('Rgya mtsho) 'ocean' are given based on natural objects; Duojie (Rdo rje) 'vajra', and Zhuoma (Sgrol ma) 'Tara' are given based on religious terms; Cairang (Tshe ring) 'long life' and Xingfu (Bde skyid) 'happiness' are given based on hopes for the child's future life; Canmujue (Mtshams gcod) 'stop', is given based on the hope that this is the last child for the mother; and Chuoyi(cid:1)(Tshe gcig) 'first', and Xingqier (Gza' mig dmar) 'Tuesday' are names based on birthdates.12 (cid:1) 12 Names are given as provided by the authors and depend on the language the authors employed, i.e., Tibetan or Chinese. Names given in Chinese are followed by Pinyin and Wylie equivalents. 183 A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices He (2009) adds that Xingqiliu (Gza' spen pa) 'Saturday', Chuba (Tshe brgyad) 'eighth', and Guoqing 'National Day' are given based on birthdates. He states that parents whose other children are all females, and who wished to have a male, name the last female child Puchi (Bu khrid) 'lead to a boy' 'bring a boy'. If children died at a young age, and their parents wish to avoid accidents for a child, Puke (Bu gog) 'ugly child' might be given as a name. He further writes that when a child is seriously ill, parents name it Xiluo (Shi log) 'be dead and come back' in order to escape such suffering. Naming practices including nicknames of lay people, monks, and nuns are briefly mentioned with content very similar to Daola (1984). Nong (2003) writes that rich families used clan and manor names as surnames to show their high family status. He notes that class and privilege are evident in Tibetan surnames in the past; only high-ranking officials and reincarnate bla ma had surnames while ordinary people did not. Although not stated, I assume this refers to the ancient clans in central Tibet. Nong claims that Tibetans take their children to monasteries and temples and ask a bla ma to name them. However, some parents whose poverty did not allow them to consult a bla ma named their children by themselves, or asked relatives and prestigious villagers for names. Nong provides examples of naming practices based on hopes for a child's future life and the wish that there be no further births, e.g., Ciren (Tshe ring) 'long life' and Qimei ('Chi med) 'no death'; and Cang mu jue (Mtshams gcod) 'stop' and Qiongda (Chog thal) 'enough'. Nong further notes that poverty and poor hygiene meant that children often died, an event that parents attributed to ghosts. In such cases, Qijia (Khyi skyag) 'dog shit', and Qizhu (Khyi phrug) 'puppy' might have been given in the hope the child would have a long, good life. Nong also states that new naming practices resulted from the Chinese Revolution, for example, Jinzhu (Bcings grol) 'liberation', Dama (Dar dmar) 'red flag', Dejimeiduo (Bde skyid me tog) 'happy flower', Sajinima (Gsar brje nyi ma) 'revolutionary sun', and Jinzhumeiduo (Bcings grol me tog) 'liberation flower'. Illustrations are also given of how numbers, age differences, physical attributes (cripple, big head), vocations (doctor, carpenter), and gender were 184 Asian Highlands Perspectives used in names. While naming practices in terms of the number of name syllables and gender are briefly mentioned, no information is given on the specific location of the study, and when and how the data were collected. Qu (1982) argues that Tibetans historically did not have surnames. Instead, they put tribal names, and the names of chieftains and landowners in front of their names (given names) as their surnames. Furthermore, names of Tibetan children attending Chinese schools were transliterated into Chinese characters by teachers. Such students then gradually used the first character of this name as a surname. Some Tibetans put Chinese surnames in front of their names as their own surnames. While this may be the case, the Mongghul (Monguor, Tu) scholar Limusishiden (personal communication),13 describes how certain Mongghul living in Huzhu Mongghul (Tu) Autonomous County in Mtsho sngon Province acquired their Chinese surnames: One family received their surname, Fu, from an official work team during the Great Leap Forward in 1958. This team visited the village and asked the family what their family was called in Mongghul. When they were told Bayan Kun 'Rich Man', they were designated as the Fu 'rich' family. Similarly, a family in Shgeayili Village, Donggou Township derived their surname, Niu, when an official work team came to the village and saw a person from the family herding cattle, then gave the surname Niu 'cattle'. Did Tibetans acquire Chinese surnames in similar fashion? This question deserves further research. Some A mdo Tibetan families appear to have had Chinese surnames for a long while. For example, Stobs stag lha (2013:38) reports on the Ma families from Ledu County in Mtsho sngon Province who fled to Chu cha Village in about 1945 to escape Ma Bufang's oppressive rule. They had the Ma surname before arrival and were unable to explain its origin. 13 Email on 7 October 2015. 185 A mdo Tibetan Naming Practices In addition Qu states that it is easy for those who understand Tibetan culture and tradition to distinguish Tibetan names for lay people, monks, and nuns, and by gender. This is, however, debatable. For example, based on my experiences and observations, Pa sangs and Zla ba are frequently used by both females and males. Zla ba, for example, is the name of a female in Zhi'u (Xiewu) Township, Khri 'du (Chenduo) County, Yul shul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and also the name of a male in Dkar brjid Township, Khri ka County, both of whom I know. In terms of female names, Qu writes that, Wangmu (Dbang mo), Lamu (Lha mo), Zhuoma (Sgrol ma), and Yangjin (Dbyangs can) are only female names, with the majority of female names featuring such suffixes as mu (mo), ji (skyid), cuo (mtsho), ma (ma), and xian (byams). Li's (1987) general comments about Tibetan names include how naming practices changed after Liberation, and how Tibetans acquired Chinese names. Li (1987) writes that some children were named Gongchantai where Gongchan (Chinese) signifies 'communist' + tai (thar), a common suffix syllable of Tibetan male names. Another example is Wengecairang where Wenge (Chinese) refers to the 'Cultural Revolution' and Cairaing (Tshe ring) means 'long life' in Tibetan. Such naming practices, Li writes, reveal Tibetan attitudes of devotion toward communism and socialism. Li (1987) also notes that some children who were born during the Cultural Revolution were named Zhandou 'battle', Weidong 'Safeguard Chair Mao', and so on. Danzhengjia (1994) introduces Tibetan surnames and their origins, and posits four great Tibetan surnames – Se (Bse), Mu (Rmu), Dong (Ldong), and Dong (Stong). He also discusses tribal names, place names, marriage and its relationship to surnames, how poor families without surnames acquired surnames, and the names of religious figures. Danzhengjia emphasizes the important role of Buddhism in Tibetan naming practices and name popularity. Focusing on the names of laypeople and monks, he states that, regardless of location, Buddhist terms are frequently associated with Tibetan naming practices, for instance, Zhuoma (Sgrol ma), Jiayang ('Jam dbyangs), and so on. Danzhengjia also briefly discusses naming practices in terms of gender. 186